Shohnabashohna
Szöveg: honvedelem.hu | 2012. december 8. 6:01Shohnabashohna means „shoulder to shoulder” in Dari. This short sentence is the motto of the NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan (NTM-A) because it sums up the efforts and partnering the Afghan National Army – accepting assistance and support from NATO member states –, is making to create the conditions of peace by guaranteeing the security of its country.
The nearly more than one-year long mission has recently reached another milestone with the class passing out of the Afghan Air Force Educational Center. Having finished their training, the members of this class will continue their career as airmen in combat units. The students first took a written exam in emergency procedures in the presence of the instructors nominated for the examination board. In what followed, in accordance with the training they had received on the previous day, they held a briefing, which was to be evaluated too, being an important element in the training. Afterwards they had to perform a complex flying mission which included a cross-country flight in formation, the choosing of an external landing zone (LZ) and landing there in formation too.
The tasks executed in a desert environment pose a challenge both to the students and their instructors, not only because they are supposed to make the landings in areas covered with fine dust while flying in formation, but also because finding the LZ on the terrain repeatedly, which lacks man-made or any characteristic features, requires proficiency and precision, and tests their mental endurance.
The students successfully completed the missions, so they received the school-leaving certificates at the center in a ceremony. Held in accordance with the drill regulations of the Afghan National Army (ANA), the ceremony was opened by the field imam who sang a quote from the Koran, which created a special atmosphere for the rest of the ceremony. The speakers at the ceremony said that the center a small team of helicopter pilots, technicians and door gunners have passed out of the center, who received their training by NATO guidelines in a coalition environment. They should not forget what they have learned, and should cling to the acquired knowledge because this enables them to form the backbone of the renewing Afghan Air Force.
The transport helicopter and ground crews of the Hungarian Defence Forces Mi-17 Air Mentor Team have contributed to the acquisition of this knowledge.
